Improvement in seams for sheet-metal cans



B. NORTON. Seam for Sheet-Metal Cans.

No. 215,766. Patented May 27,1879.

J/nz/ew orz NPETEP.S. PHOTO-LITNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D C.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN NORTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEAMS Specication forming part of Letters Patent No To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWIN NORTON, of Chicago, Cook county, State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Seams for SheetMetal Cans, of which the following is a full description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation outside. Fig. 2 is an inside view. Fig. 3 is a cross-section at x of Fig. 1; Fig'. 4, an enlarged detail view; Fig. 5, au eleva-tion, showing the outside of the sheet bent but not brought together; Fig. 6, an inside view of same; Fig. 7, a section at y y of Fig. 5 i Fig. S, an enlarged detail view; Fig. 9, a detail ot' parts in Fig. 7 brought together.

In manufacturing sheet-metal cans for some purposes, it is essential that the joint or seam by which the two ends of the sheet from which the body of the can is made are united should be perfectly tight without the use of solder. This is especially true of cans used for coucentrated lye, which is poured into the cans when intensely hot, and it has been found difficultto make a seam sufficiently tight to prevent leakage.

I accomplish the desired result by means of a seam or joint of peculiar construction, as

4hereinafter fully set forth.

I have shown in the drawings a can-body made from a single sheet, but the invention could be used in manufacturing can-bodies from two or more sheets.

In the drawings, A represents the body of a can, or the sheet from which the body is formed. In manufacturing, the two ends of the sheet are first bent a and so that near each end there are two acute angles-c b at one end, and c d at the other end-while the two ends e f of the sheet pro- January 13, 1879. Y

s shown in Fig. 8,'

FOR SHEET-METAL CAN'S.

. 215,766, dated May 27, 1879; application iiled `ject beyond the points of the angles b c. This I find can be easily donc by means of suitable machinery. Then the two ends are brought together, as shown in Fig. 9, the end e being inserted in the angle d, and the end f being inserted in. the angle c. Then the seam is completed by means of a suitable swaging-machine, all the parts being pressed irmly and closely together, as shown in Fig. 4.

The swagingmachine is to be so formed that in completing the seam there will be an offset or bend, g, Fig. 4, which will render it impossible to separate the parts by any ordinary strain.

I thus forni, in effect, two seams a little distance apart, each of which is as secure as the ordinary seam, and which are so constructed and arranged that they strengthen each other, and each adds to the security of the other. The contents of such a can cannot escape through my joint without traveling a long distance and over a circuitous path; and the double seam is, in fact, so formed that when well made it will securely hold anything which it is usual to put into such cans without any leakage, as has been demonstrated by severe tests.

The bottom and top of the can are to be plied in the usual manner.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows In a sheet-metal can, the angles c b and c d, the ends e f being compressed in the angles c d, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

EDWIN NORTON..

Witnesses E. A. WEST, O. W. BOND. 

